Teledermatology: Issues in remote diagnosis and management of cutaneous disease

Experience with the implementation of a web-based teledermatology system in a nursing home in Singapore

“…The dermatologists mentioned that the image quality was usually very good and satisfactory for diagnosis. This response is similar to that of the study by Philips et al 14 The dermatologists said that images involving scalp disease were difficult to view and diagnose, which is similar to the findings of Taylor et al 15 This was due to presence of hair, which prevented the camera from focusing automatically on the scalp. Obtaining a better view of the scalp requires manual focusing.…”

“…This sometimes decreased their confidence in providing accurate diagnosis over DPHIMS, and they referred these patients for a face-to-face consultation. This response was again similar to the conclusions of Philips et al 14 The dermatologist who moved to the UK during Phase 2 was able to continue providing consultation, diagnosis and treatment for his existing patients and could even accept new patients. The ability to work at long distances impressed the dermatologists.…”

Prevention of work‐related skin diseases: teledermatology as an alternative approach in occupational screenings

“…Apart from three randomized controlled trials (11, 31, 32), all were cross‐sectional comparative studies. Many of these studies were focussed solely on malignant skin lesions (10, 20, 21, 33–37) or dealt with a range of cutaneous diseases typical of an outpatient clinic or a dermatologic ward (6, 10, 11, 18, 24–26, 38, 39). The results of most publications were favourable with regard to teledermatology.…”

“…In teledermatology, the store‐and‐forward approach, where data are stored and sent to the physician by electronic or conventional means, has been proven as useful (5). In comparison with the real‐time approach (25) where it is necessary for physician and patient to be present at the same time, it is regarded to be more effective (5), more affordable and to have a better cost‐benefit ratio, while providing equivalent levels of diagnostic accuracy and concordance (11, 26). Although skin diseases still account for a large part of the total sum of occupational diseases, studies dealing with the implementation of teledermatology into occupational medicine are scarce to non‐existent.…”

A Tactile Sensor for Detection of Skin Surface Morphology and its Application in Telemedicine Systems

“…This is mainly due to improvements in the available technology, accompanied by falling transmission costs [2] . Many specialists ranging from image-dependent areas such as radiology and pathology to traditionally non-image-dependent areas such as psychiatry and surgery have found significant utility in telemedicine applications [3] . Although teledermatology is one of the best-studied disciplines in telemedicine, several of these issues remain unresolved and require further investigation [4] .…”